At first glance nothing about these cars and trucks jumps off the page. Yet they were the proving ground for car tech and car-building techniques that influence how our autos are built.

1984 Jeep Cherokee: Unibody

1984 Jeep Cherokee: Unibody

The much-beloved Cherokee was the first large-production unibody truck. A new welding process kept this light body together for great on- and off-road dynamics and a stiff chassis, with much less weight and floppiness than competitors from Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Ford, and GM. Nissan was the next to follow suit with its Pathfinder, but not until 1996.

2001 Nissan Pathfinder: Autonomous Off-Roading

2001 Nissan Pathfinder: Autonomous Off-Roading

Electronic ascent and descent control eliminated some driver skill (and human error) from off-roading. The Pathfinder's antilock brake system was tuned so that the driver need only hold the brake when descending steep hills, which previously was a dangerous no-no for off-road driving. Accelerating up dirt hills always required a deft touch of the throttle—prior to the Pathfinder's carefully tuned traction control system, that is. It worked best if the driver floored the gas pedal, a definite counterintuitive move in any other off-roader at the time.